We’re a week away from the NBA trade deadline, and trade fever is running high around the league. NBA analyst Nick Wright hypothesized possible trades for LeBron James on ‘First Things First’, sharing a scenario that sees LeBron return to a franchise with which he won two titles, the Miami Heat.
Trade Details
Lakers Receive: Tyler Herro, Duncan Robinson
Heat Receive: LeBron James
“You get Tyler Herro under contract and Duncan Robinson to make it work.”
Nick Wright LeBron/Heat trade Idea today
Lakers receive – Tyler Herro, Duncan Robinson
Heat receive – LeBron James
“Every single one of those teams would be better positioned than the Lakers would to win a title”
(Via @FTFonFS1) pic.twitter.com/HsB7gd9byP
— Heat Culture (@HeatCulture13) January 31, 2024
Wright also suggested some trades to send LeBron to New York and Philadelphia. He said the Knicks could trade Julius Randle and Evan Fournier with two first-round picks. In addition, he posited the 76ers acquiring LeBron by sending Tobias Harris, Furkan Korkmaz, and one first-round pick.
All these offers are really bad, but the Heat one is arguably the most unfair. The Portland Trail Blazers were resisting acquiring Tyler Herro for Damian Lillard, so why would the Lakers accept that for LeBron James, the greatest player of this generation? Duncan Robinson’s contract has been considered one of the worst around the league for years, and even a hot shooting season doesn’t change that.
Teams would take a pick just to acquire the Robinson contract and we’re supposed to believe an offer where LeBron switches teams for this? It’s just not fathomable.
Could The Miami Heat Actually Tempt The Lakers With An Offer?
It’ll be impossible for the Heat, with the assets that they control, to make a move for LeBron James. The players in the deal would have to be Herro and Robinson just for finances, but the Lakers would reckon they could get a player like Nikola Jovic as a future star also. That would balance out the Lakers’ roster around Anthony Davis pretty nicely but still isn’t an acceptable package for a name like LeBron.
The Lakers would likely want draft picks from the Heat as well, but due to LeBron’s age, they could be negotiated down to probably just one unprotected pick. At that point, does it even make sense for the Heat to rip its roster of assets for a half-season of LeBron? James can test free agency this season and the Heat could fail to re-sign him just because he wants to go play where Bronny got drafted.
The story is wonderful. The Heat have made it to two NBA Finals since LeBron was last on the franchise and lost both times. Funnily, one of those times was to LeBron himself in 2020. Similar to James returning to the Cavaliers, he could return to the Heat and be the final piece of the puzzle for a franchise that’s been contending for the last few seasons but doesn’t have the roster strength to actually win it all.
In reality, any price the Lakers would set for LeBron would be far more than anything the Heat would give up given James’ age and looming retirement. James has never been traded in his career and it doesn’t look like it’ll start now with a mid-season move away from a city where he and his entire family are settled.
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